Takashi Iizuka: Sega wanted to scrap Sonic before the 2020 Sonic movie

The comments come from a recent interview with One More Game and were highlighted in a Kotaku report. In the same context, Sonic Mania from 2017 is mentioned as a well-received game, while Sonic Forces was less positively received.

The source context also mentions a fourth Sonic movie for 2027 and a new animated Sonic series for Netflix, but gives no further production details or title.

What happened

Takashi Iizuka, one of the best-known names behind Sonic, says that in difficult years at Sega he was told the entire franchise should be scrapped. In his account, he had to fight internally to keep Sonic going for as long as possible. The interview description frames this as a period in which higher-ups allegedly wanted the whole franchise cancelled, while he tried to preserve the series within the company.

Iizuka calls the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie from 2020 the biggest turning point. He says the film was a major hit and changed the course of the franchise. That places the movie as a key moment in Sonic's recent history, alongside the game side of the brand. The source context explicitly ties this to his statement that the film “definitely changed the course of this franchise” and that it was his biggest milestone moment.

The reporting contrasts that with the game period before it: Sonic Mania from 2017 was well received, while recent mainline games such as Sonic Forces were less strongly reviewed. Sonic is still described in the same context as a game-first IP, even though the franchise has since expanded into films and other media. In the provided information, that expansion is not presented as a replacement for the games, but as an extra layer on top of a brand that still primarily comes from video games.

One important distinction in the source material is that Iizuka is confirmed to have spoken about internal pressure and about trying to keep the franchise alive, but not that Sega formally made a final cancellation decision. The wording leaves room for an internal debate or management stance, without any official decision number or company document included in the provided material.

Background

Sonic the Hedgehog began as a Sega game franchise and later expanded into film and animation. The provided information stresses that this expansion does not replace the core: Sonic remains primarily a game-driven brand. That fits the way the franchise has been positioned for decades, with games as the foundation and other media as extensions of the brand.

The source also notes that Sonic Mania from 2017 was well received. That detail matters because it shows there were still successes on the game side of the franchise in the years before the movie breakthrough. At the same time, Sonic Forces is mentioned in the same context as a less well-received mainline game, highlighting the contrast between a mixed game period and a film that, according to Iizuka, had a strongly positive effect.

The provided source context also mentions a fourth Sonic movie for 2027. However, it does not say whether that is an officially locked release date or a planned date that could still move. A new animated Sonic series for Netflix is also mentioned, but without a title, cast, studio, or concrete release date. So the only firm takeaway is that the source context points to further Sonic expansion beyond games, not fully detailed production plans.

The core of the story remains Iizuka's own description of the internal situation at Sega and his view that the first Sonic movie from 2020 gave the franchise a new direction. The available information mainly supports that personal account and the film's impact, while the exact business decision-making inside Sega is not fully spelled out in the provided material.